Building toy



A. P. GILBERT. BUILDING TOY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 4, 1920 Patented; Nov. 29, 1921.,

INVENTOR i F. 6/76e/7 therein.

i i 3 a; r I a e non'rn caaonmn BUILDING TQY.

Application flIed FebrnaI-y To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALBERT P. GILBERT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Durham, in the county of Durham and State of North Carolina, have invented new and useful Building Toys, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices to be used in conjunction with strips, panels or sections of card board, or similar material for the purpose of holding the same together to form continuous walls, partitions roofs, etc., in simulation of the parts of houses or other buildings.

The object is toprovide a simple device which may be readily applied to such panels or sections or removed therefrom by a child in building toy houses orthe like, and by means of which different styles or shapes of houses may be erected to suit the fancy of the builder. lhe sections or panels are cutin a series of predetermined shapes best suited for the purpose and the clips or holding devices aremade of different sizes to hold heavier or lighter material, cut in larger or smaller dimensions, so that doll houses may be built, or houses of sufficient size as to permit small children playing lar reference characters designate. corresponding parts throughout the several figures:

Figure 1 isa perspective view of a toy house constructed of panelssecured together in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view through the same and showing an arrangementofinterior partitions which may be installed;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of one style of section or panel used in the building;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the con- 4, 1920. Serial Ito. 358,156.

nections of three panels and showing the relation of the clip to the same;

Fig. 5'isa detail perspective view of one form of clip used therein;

Figs. 6 to 9 inclusive are edge views of some of the various styles of clips which may be 'used in the construction of different buildings. Children large and small derive much benefit out of the instructive pastime of building toy houses if it is possible for Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Nov. 29, 1%21. v

them to vary the design, size and proportions of the same, thus enabling them to incorporate their individual ideas and likes into the finished building, and it is the purpose of the present invention to provide the necessary means for permitting of such diversity of design and artistic ability.

The sections or pi anels used in the construction' may be formed of ordinary card board or paste board, when the outfit is intended for the building of the smaller sized houses, such as may be used for doll houses, the said sections or panels being cut in general rectangular form, some of which may be square and others oblong, preferably twice as long as they are wide, or the size of two of the square sections, while a plurality of triangular sections may also be 1ncluded such as are necessary to form the top edges of the sides of a house having agable roof, as will be understood. On the other hand when it is desired to provide an outfit suitable for building small playhouses, in which children may enter and play in person, the same general shapes of the several sections may, be employed, the same being, however, of larger dimensions and composed of heavier material such as ordinary composition board.

' In the former class of toy houses the cllps or holding means may be formed of some suitable light metal such as tin or thin brass and of the proper size and dimensions to hold such light material as mentioned, while in the latter class of buildings the said clips are to be made larger and of stronger spring metal in order to give the proper clamp1 g action to hold the heavier sections or pane s three kinds mainly, that is, the oblong panels 1 and the square panels 2, the triangular sections 3, comprising one-half of the oblong panels cut diagonally and used to form the inclined upper edges of the side walls in order to form the gable roof, which may be formed wholl or in part of the oblong panels depending on the size and location of the chimney which may be arranged at an desired point.

maller triangular sections 4 cut to form the apex of the end walls may also be provided, and it will be seen that many other more or less complex styles and shapes of sections may be rovided to permit of building houses of di erent styles of architecture, but it has been deemed unnecessary to illustrate the same. in arranging the location of the different size panels it has been found advantageous to employ the square panels 2 between the windows, indicated at 5, which may have celluloid or glass secured therein, as illustrated, and held in position by the same means employed to hold the several panels to ether, in a manner to be described, and pane s of one kind or the other may be omitted to provide for doorways 6, as desired.

As illustrated in Fig. 3 of the drawing, each panel is provided with two recesses or indentations 7 located at each side of each corner thereof. In the case of the oblong panels, intermediate recesses 8 are provided in'the centers of their long sides. These recesses "are substantially rectangular and are provided for the reception of clips of various shapes and permit of a closer fitting of the panels together to provide a' perfectly smooth wall, but in the case of the larger size houses, may be omitted. The most common form of clip to be used in the construction of'the house is shown clearly in Fig. 5, and comprises a pair of opposed U-shaped members 9 formed of spring sheet metal having their open ends slightly contracted and the terminals flared outwardly, as at 10, to more readily receive the edge the invention.

of the panel to be held thereby, each member Shaving, its closed nd-11.

soldered thereto at an angle, as shown, which he form of chp shown in Fig. 7 is to be used interiorily of the house principally, to hold the adjacent ends of panels comprisan g le may be varied as desired.

ing the intersecting walls or partitions 12,

which, as has been stated, may be variously arranged to suit the fancy of the builder. This form comprises four clip members 9 arranged back to back and forminga right angle between each member.

The form shown in Fig. 8 is composed of two clip members 9 arranged at right angles to each other, as used at the corners of the buildings, while that shown in Fig.9 is indicative of one of the many angles at which two of the clips may be arranged to allow of reat scope in planning and simulating di erent styles of architecture, it being understood that the right to employ any i of such arrangements. of clips is to be specifically reserved within the scope of the invention.

From the foregoing it will be seen that a simple cheaply manufactured and highly entertaining and instructive outfit has been provided for the building of toy houses and the like, which is capable of being assembled in-a great diversity of ways to suit the individual fancy of the builder.

What I claim is In the construction of toy buildings, the

combination with panels which when placed edge to edge and assembled form the building, said panels being provided with a pair \of rectangular recesses at either side of each corner, some of the panels having recesses intermediate the corners, and means consisting of a plurality of U-sha ed clamps joined together at their closed en s, for connecting the edges of the panels together at the corners and at intermediate points, the rectangular recesses of adjacent panels co operating to form a seat for the intermediate portionpf the connecting means.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as-my-own, I have hereto afiixed my signature in the presence or" two witnesses.

ALBERT PAUL GILBERT.

Witnesses:

A. L. CORNELL,

W. B. GAILAHER, Jr. 

